01/15/15
Downtown Detroit and at least seven other Michigan cities are giving us more reasons to walk. The transformation in downtown Detroit is remarkable. Other cities — Cadillac, Flint, Holland, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Marquette and Midland — are enrolled in PlacePlans, a project to create walkable districts with economic impacts.

12/18/14
So what's the Next Big Thing for Detroit? Fixing education, for starters. Kirk Pinho looks at how civic and business leaders have formed a coalition to figure out how to make sense of the patchwork quilt of publicly financed K-12 schools in Detroit. For the most part, the majority of schools continue to fail children. But for Detroit to be sustainable, it will need good schools and good jobs. That's where programs like "Detroit Deleting the Digital Divide" come in. Alicia Jones has been focused on training under-employed people for IT jobs. She's had an interest since she was an Oak Park school board member, and later running an after-school program.

12/08/14
Free-market economist Walter Williams is among the handful of conservative African-American academics, authors and essayists who buck the group-think of what ails predominantly black cities like Detroit. He is the subject of a new documentary to air this month on local public TV.

12/01/14
Is Southeast Michigan really ready to expand public transit? And will we pay for it? The answer will come in November 2016 when voters have a chance to approve a dedicated revenue stream to create bus rapid transit along main arteries in the region.

11/11/14
Imagine the power of finding issues that Democrats and Republicans could agree on — and work together to address. Long before she ran to succeed her husband in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 12th District, Debbie Dingell was talking up ways to work across the aisle. It seems incredible, but no one I've talked to can challenge her claim that the congressional delegation has never gotten together with top state lawmakers. Imagine if they did, meeting first for an informal but structured retreat.

11/04/14
Do newspaper endorsements matter? At last count last week, Democrat Mark Schauer had not received any major Michigan newspaper endorsements in his bid for governor. Oddly, Schauer was endorsed by The Toledo Blade. Go figure.

11/07/14
This year's Giving Guide is loaded with information that can inspire you as a donor or bring ideas to the office on how your company can be more effective in its community outreach. You may find some familiar names among the more than 60 nonprofits in this year's "giving catalog." But you may also discover some new nonprofits that focus on a mission that's important to you.

10/19/14
On Nov. 4, voters can pick people who steer policy, hire and fire university presidents and are ultimately responsible for the combined $9 billion budgets at Wayne State University, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. But can you name a single candidate for university trustee? As Crain's Chris Gautz reported Sept. 29, these bottom-of-the-ballot races are often decided by straight-party ticket voters. That's a shame. Consider Wayne State: Many of its graduate programs are among the finest in the state; it is trying to grow its research budget and opportunities to spin off technology into new companies. But few people can name a current trustee. The big issues at WSU are enrollment (declining) and graduation rates (dead last among 15 state universities).

10/13/14
Are Michigan voters ready to amend the term limits they enacted by referendum 22 years ago? Business leaders attending the West Michigan Policy Forum in Grand Rapids last month want to extend or modify those limits. And Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville also has proposed modifications to the current limits. But do voters still like term limits? Grand Rapids will find out Nov. 4 when voters decide whether to adopt limits of eight years for city commissioners and the mayor.

10/01/14
In 1990, a Crain's reporter and an intern walked the downtown streets, block by block, to identify vacant space, then looked up the records to determine the square footage. The tally: Nearly 50 empty buildings in the central business district, the equivalent in office space to 3 ¼ times the size of the Renaissance Center at that time. Today there are fewer empty buildings — a recent Detroit News tally estimated the number to be 13 — and a lot more people on the street.

09/24/14
A few years back, Sarah Palin caused an uproar by alleging that Obamacare had a provision for "death panels" that would basically decide whether people lived or died. Palin's "death panel" allegation went viral, effectively killing the idea of reimbursing doctors for "advanced care planning" conversations. The actual idea was not so macabre.

08/21/14
Last week, more than 10,000 volunteers descended on 65 blocks on Detroit's west side that straddle the Southfield Freeway between Joy and Plymouth roads. Many homes were demolished, boarded up or remodeled and urban forests of junk trees and other trash were removed from lots and public sidewalks. The before/after is remarkable. And the best stuff is at the schools — a medical simulation lab and other labs at Cody High School and a new football field for a school that hasn't played a home game in years.

08/23/14
Nearly a year ago, Beverly Burns made her "encore." A onetime journalist, she had practiced labor and employment law in the Detroit area for more than 30 years. But she was ready for another act.

08/23/14
Mayor Mike Duggan and police Chief James Craig are in what might be described as a shotgun marriage. Craig was hired by, and reports to, Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr. Which leaves some wondering: What will happen when Orr leaves?